Storyboarding, visualising and management

Walt Disney revolutionised the industry of animation during the 20th century. How come?

Mr Walt Disney understood the power of effective visualisation already in the 1930s. He started doing storyboarding in order to gain an overview of the huge amount of drawings constituting animation films his crews of drawers made. Walt Disney aimed to produce better quality animation by increasing the number of drawings per frame four times the normal number of its contemporary standard. The company outperformed its competitors by using much of the same methods as Blocket has been applying to their tasks.

Go visual and get your message across

I believe a lot of us could learn a lot from becoming more visually oriented when trying to explain something to colleagues or an audience. It’s fascinating how easily understandable quite complex ideas can get with a little help of a pen and paper instead of Power Points or Word files.

A couple of years ago I attempted to get employed by IDEO, a fascinating industrial design company with offices in the US, Europe and Asia. The company blends engineers, designers, social anthropolgists, business people, and more. What the company has understood for a long time, is the art of visualising process and development. The company has also understood the importance of customer and user insight.

In order to be considered for the posts, applicants were asked to present photos expressing something on the topic ‘What will the future hold?’ I made a drawing (as featured below). The message I wanted to give was that in the future ‘anything goes’. What may seem science fiction today will be reality within few years.

The drawing did not land me the job. However, the process of trying to condense a complex message into one image made me appreciate the power of imagery. Draw what is on your mind. Shoot a photo or a film. It may help you get your message across more easily.